Online auction to offer hundreds of antiques from Atatürk’s era

ANTALYA

The saddle of a horse, a gift from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to his wife Latife Hanım, has been listed for bidding in an online auction. The online auction will continue until Feb. 25. 

Aykut Altınelli, the head of Pingudu Auction House who organizes the auction, said some personal belongings of a family close to Atatürk are up for sale on the Internet. 

Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, Altınelli said more than 400 artifacts would be sold in the auction. 

“A collector, who is close to Atatürk’s family and does not want to be named, has kept all of these items for years. This person wants to sell them through our auction house,” he said. 

Altınelli said all of the pieces are original and belong to the family’s heritage and the auction has been organized only to sell the pieces in that collection. 

He said buyers could only participate in the auction over the Internet, and they would be able to deposit online until Feb. 25, adding that each of the pieces in the auction were very important. 

The auction house head said the most valuable antiques are the saddle of the horse named Sakarya, which Atatürk gave to his wife Latife Hanım as a gift, a silver hand-made pillowcase belonging to Latife Hanım, the vest of Yörük Ali Efe, an officer in the Turkish Army during the War of Independence and a War of Independence Medal certificate signed by Atatürk, as well as many other documents. 

Altınelli said the opening bid for Sakarya’s saddle is 30,000 Turkish Liras, while the bid for the pillowcase starts at 6,000 liras, Yörük Ali Efe’s vest starts at 6,000 liras, a document with Atatürk’s wet signature starts at 20,000 liras and the bid for photos starts at 200,000-500,000 liras. 

“Among the most important items on sale are a photo of Atatürk and bureaucrat Hasan Rıza Soyak entering the parliament, a document written by Soyak in 1924, Turkey’s second president İsmet İnönü’s message to Atatürk to celebrate the Republic Day [of Turkey] in 1928 and a report launched at the Seventh Medical Congress on Atatürk’s disease,” he said. 

The online auction also offers works on Atatürk’s private life and photos and postcards from the first years of the Turkish Republic in Turkey’s various regions. 

The items can be viewed at www.pingmuzayede.com. The auction will close on Feb. 25 at 10:30 p.m.